Sophomore LeKesha Williams will help guide the Flames this weekend at the UIC Home Run Inn Thanksgiving Tournament.

Nov. 22, 2000

Chicago, Ill. - The UIC women's basketball team will have its work cut out for it this weekend as they gear up to host the 2nd annual UIC Home Run Inn Thanksgiving Basketball Tournament, Nov. 24-25, at the UIC Pavilion.

The field for this year's tournament is loaded as the Flames welcome Southeastern Conference power Alabama, California of the Pac-10 and Sun Belt Conference representative South Alabama to the Windy City for the holiday weekend.

The Crimson Tide (1-0) and Golden Bears (0-2) tip off the tournament on Friday, Nov. 24, at 4:30 p.m., with the Flames (0-2) and Jaguars (2-0) meeting in the nightcap at 7:00 p.m. Second-day action gets underway on Saturday, Nov. 25, at 1:00 p.m. for the consolation game. The championship game will follow at 3:30 p.m.

Alabama and Cal's first-round clash should be a war. The Tide is 1-0 this season and is led by second-team All-SEC guard Shondra Johnson (New Orleans, La./15.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and senior forward Joni Crenshaw (Meridian, Miss./16.0 ppg, 14.0 rpg). After suffering losses last weekend at #7 Rutgers and at Fairfield, the Golden Bears will be looking to get back on track over the Thanksgiving weekend. Senior Brook Coulter (Fort Collins, Colo.) has paced Cal, averaging 15.0 ppg early on this season.

South Alabama's 2-0 start is its third best in school history as they posted early wins over Jacksonville State and Jackson State. The Jaguars will also be looking to avenge the 16-point defeat the Flames handed to them last season.

UIC enters the tournament 0-2 on the year after being upset, 52-49, at Chicago State on Tuesday. Last season, though, the Flames won the inaugural UIC Home Run Inn Thanksgiving Tournament with a 80-74 overtime triumph over Troy State. Sophomore guard LeKesha Williams (Oklahoma City, Okla.) has led the UIC offense so far this season, averaging 12.5 ppg.